Have a question? 720-328-2877 or Book a Call
WEALTH MANAGEMENT | FINANCIAL PLANNING
Business Succession Planning
For many successful, high-net-worth business owners, the business is more than an asset; it is the engine of their wealth, identity, and family legacy. The challenge is turning that illiquid, highly concentrated success into a durable, diversified balance sheet that can support your lifestyle, your family, and your next chapter.
Heirloom Wealth acts as a financial quarterback and family office for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families, coordinating everything money touches - from investments and tax strategy to estate and legacy planning - over decades. Business succession planning at Heirloom is built on that same philosophy: wealth management and tax strategy under one roof, with a cohesive plan that connects your exit, your estate, and your long-term lifestyle.
The Problem
Transitioning Your Business Is Often Your Single Biggest Wealth Event
Whether you sell, transition to a next-generation leader, or gradually step back from day-to-day operations, the goal is the same: organize and simplify every aspect of every dollar so you can move from “owner” to “living well” with clarity and confidence.
Successful owners often arrive at Heirloom in one of two situations:
Dissatisfied with a current advisor- You may feel like your existing firm is reactive, focused on products, or not equipped to handle the interplay between your business, your personal balance sheet, and your tax picture.
Considering a first formal advisor. You have built meaningful net worth through your company but have never had a truly integrated wealth and tax strategy—especially around what happens if you sell or step away.
Typical challenges Heirloom sees when reviewing existing structures include:
Concentrated risk in a single business- Your net worth is tied up in one asset, making retirement timing, lifestyle, and estate planning highly dependent on one company and one transaction.
Fragmented providers and misaligned incentives-. A CPA in one office, an investment advisor in another, an attorney somewhere else—and no one is truly in charge of the big picture, which can lead to missed opportunities or conflicting advice.
Tax-inefficient exits- A poorly structured sale or buyout can create one-time tax bills in the six- or seven-figure range. While every situation is unique, failing to plan ahead may significantly reduce what ultimately stays with your family.
No clear succession narrative- You might not have alignment between partners, key employees, and family members on who takes over, how they are compensated, or how your role and income evolve.
Estate and legacy blind spots- Ownership interests that do not match your estate plan, outdated beneficiary designations, or lack of trust structures can derail otherwise thoughtful intentions for your spouse, children, or charities.
Owners in this position usually know they need to act—but they do not want to be sold a product or pushed toward a transaction that benefits someone else more than their family.
Heirloom’s Approach: An Integrated Path from Owner to “After the Exit”
Heirloom’s business succession planning lives inside a broader, holistic financial plan. Succession is not an isolated event, it is one part of your lifestyle, tax, investment, and legacy strategy.
Below is a typical framework for how Heirloom works with business owners and entrepreneurs:
Our Approach
1. Holistic Risk Discovery
The process begins with understanding your life, not just your policies. Heirloom looks at:
Family structure and financial dependents
Career or business exposure and key-person risk
Lifestyle, properties, and major assets
Existing estate and legacy intentions
Current income sources and obligations
In parallel, the team gathers details on your existing coverage, typically including:
Life insurance (term, permanent, and any policies held in trusts or entities)
Disability income protection
Long-term care coverage, if applicable
Personal liability and umbrella policies
Property and casualty policies at a high level
Any specialty or business-related coverage connected to your role or company
The goal is to see your risks and protections in context, rather than as isolated contracts.
Our Approach
1. Clarify goals for your life, not just the transaction
Before discussing structures or valuations, Heirloom starts with your desired life on the other side of ownership:
When do you want to step back, partially or fully?
What lifestyle are you trying to support, and for how long?
How important are family employment, key-employee incentives, or philanthropy in the plan?
What do you want your wealth to do for your children and grandchildren?
This becomes part of your comprehensive financial plan—Heirloom’s “lifestyle planning” approach that spans every stage of life and connects each major decision back to a long-term roadmap.
Our Approach
2. Map your current financial and ownership structure
Next, Heirloom organizes your financial life so everyone is working from the same, clean picture:
Personal balance sheet and cash-flow projections
Business ownership, entity structure(s), and any existing buy-sell agreements
Retirement accounts and taxable investment accounts
Existing estate planning documents and beneficiary designations
Current tax situation and expected future brackets
Wealth management at Heirloom is “everything money touches”—estate planning, tax planning, investments, cash flow, and debt. Succession planning is layered directly onto this foundation so decisions are made in context, not in isolation.
Our Approach
3. Coordinate tax and succession strategy under one roof
Because Heirloom’s wealth and tax teams sit under the same roof and work closely with top tax equity law firms, business succession conversations are inherently tax-aware.
Working alongside your existing attorney and other professionals, Heirloom helps you evaluate and, where appropriate, explore strategies such as:
Equity redemptions or cross-purchase arrangements
Gradual ownership transitions to family or key employees
Charitable structures if you are charitably inclined (for example, integrating giving strategies with required distributions and other income sources)
Coordinating business sale proceeds with retirement income planning, so your portfolio can support your targeted lifestyle in up and down markets
The objective is to make taxes a “noble and controllable” part of your plan—considered in advance rather than reconciled after the fact.
(Heirloom does not provide legal advice. Any entity or transaction design should be coordinated with your legal counsel. Tax outcomes depend on individual circumstances and may vary.)
Our Approach
4. Design a post-exit portfolio and income plan
A business succession strategy is only successful if it connects seamlessly to your investment and income plan. Heirloom:
Builds or refines a portfolio designed to generate sustainable income and manage downside risk through market cycles
Addresses concentration risk by carefully transitioning from a single business to a diversified set of investments over time
Integrates audited performance data so you can see how Heirloom’s strategies have behaved relative to benchmarks and peer funds, net of all advisory and investment expenses
This planning is coordinated with retirement income modeling—stress-testing different retirement dates, spending levels, and Social Security or pension strategies so you can see what your post-exit lifestyle may look like under a range of conditions.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Our Approach
5. Align estate and legacy structures with your business decisions
For many owners, the business is central to their legacy. Heirloom’s estate and legacy planning work focuses on making sure your documents, titling, and beneficiaries match the reality of your succession and sale plan:
Reviewing how ownership interests flow through your estate plan
Ensuring beneficiary designations and account titling do not unintentionally override your wishes
Exploring trusts or other estate tools, in coordination with your attorney, if you have complex family dynamics, special needs beneficiaries, or significant real estate and business holdings
Heirloom is not a law firm and does not draft legal documents, but can often spot red flags early and coordinate with your attorney so changes are made thoughtfully and efficiently.
Our Approach
6. Educate you and your family, repeatedly.
Many owners are used to making fast, high-stakes decisions in their business—but those same decisions on the personal side can feel unfamiliar. Heirloom leans heavily into client education: multiple meetings per year, clear agendas, and patient explanation of the trade-offs in each decision.
You can expect:
Regular reviews of your financial plan as it evolves before, during, and after a succession event
Time set aside to walk through your portfolio, tax plan, and estate strategy in plain language
Inclusion of spouses, adult children, and other stakeholders when appropriate, so they understand what you own and how your plan is designed to work over generations
Outcomes / Results
Heirloom does not control markets, tax law, or purchase multiples. What the firm can control is the quality of your planning and the integration of all the moving parts.
Owners who complete a business succession and wealth plan with Heirloom typically walk away with:
A clear, written roadmap
that connects your exit timing, sale structure, and personal goals into a single financial plan.
A coordinated tax strategy
designed to make your overall picture as efficient as legally possible over time, in partnership with tax professionals.
An investment plan backed by audited track records
so you can see how Heirloom’s strategies have performed across different risk levels versus broad benchmarks and major investment firms.
Ongoing education and support
with a team that revisits your plan multiple times per year and adapts to new information, opportunities, and family changes.
Again, no strategy can eliminate risk, and no planning process can guarantee a particular outcome. But for many owners, the greatest result is intangible: the ability to step away from the business with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind about what comes next.
Is Heirloom's Business Succession Planning for you?
This service tends to resonate most with:
Founders and majority owners
of closely held businesses who are within 5–15 years of a potential sale, transition, or retirement.
Entrepreneurs with concentrated wealth
in a single company but substantial overall net worth.
Owners frustrated with fragmented advice
especially where their current advisor, CPA, and attorney are not aligned on strategy or are primarily product-driven.
Families that care about multi-generation impact
wanting to help children and grandchildren while avoiding unnecessary complexity, tax surprises, or family conflict.
FAQs
Q: Why is business succession planning more complex than most owners expect?
Business succession involves far more than selling a company. Owners must consider cash flow versus legacy value, family dynamics, culture, tax implications, and how the exit supports long-term retirement goals. Many owners regret selling within a year because these factors were not fully addressed ahead of time.
Q: When should a business owner start succession planning?
Succession planning works best when started three to five years—or more—before a potential exit. Early planning allows time to improve business value, clarify goals, address tax strategies, and ensure the transition aligns with both personal and financial objectives. Waiting until the year of sale often limits options.
Q: Does selling the business always make the most sense?
Not necessarily. In some cases, owners discover they don’t need to sell at all. Alternatives may include transitioning leadership to family or management, maintaining ownership for income, or structuring partial liquidity events. Heirloom helps evaluate whether selling, transferring, or retaining the business best supports the overall financial plan.
Q: How does Heirloom support business owners through a sale or transition?
Heirloom works alongside a network of M&A advisors, attorneys, and value drivers to help position the business for transition. The focus is not only on maximizing sale proceeds but also on ensuring the outcome supports retirement income, tax efficiency, and peace of mind after the transaction.
Q: How does business succession planning connect to retirement and legacy planning?
For many owners, their business is their largest asset. Succession planning ensures this asset transitions in a way that supports retirement income, protects family interests, and preserves the legacy of the business. Heirloom integrates succession decisions into the broader financial plan so owners can move forward with clarity and confidence.
If you see yourself in any of these descriptions—and you want a firm that sits on the same side of the table, as a true fee-only fiduciary whose incentives are aligned with your long-term outcomes, Heirloom may be a fit.
Schedule A Strategy Session with Our Team
This initial conversation is designed to understand your goals, current situation, and priorities. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, explore how Heirloom’s integrated approach works, and determine whether a longer-term relationship makes sense—without pressure or obligation.
Our Services
A coordinated approach to managing investments, planning, and cash flow, designed to bring clarity and confidence to your financial life today and over time.
Tax strategies integrated with your broader wealth plan, helping inform decisions, improve efficiency, and support long-term outcomes through coordinated planning.
Contact
6400 S Fiddlers Green Circle
Suite 1970
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
3200 Cherry Creek S Dr.
Suite 130
Denver, CO 80209
© 2026 Heirloom Wealth. All Rights Reserved.
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and is believed to be from reliable sources; however, its accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed. This material is not intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice. Individuals should consult with qualified tax or legal professionals regarding their specific circumstances. Nothing contained herein should be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any security.
Heirloom Wealth Management LLC takes data privacy seriously. In accordance with applicable privacy laws, you may request information regarding the collection and use of personal data or exercise applicable privacy rights.
Investment advisory services are offered through Heirloom Wealth Management LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser.